Manchester –
Rumor Mauricio Pochettino called the ringleader of defeat Paris Saint Germain in the cage Manchester City. But, Pochettino vehemently denied.
PSG came to the Etihad Stadium, Thursday (25/11/2021) early in the morning WIB, in continued Matchday Fifth Group A Champions League. Three points became PSG’s target in order to secure the group champion position.
Pochettino did not want to play defensively and that was evidenced by the introduction of the trio of Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Lionel Messi. Unfortunately, PSG even struggled to reduce the wave of City attacks from the early minutes.
City controlled 54 percent of ball possession and made 16 attempts, six of which were on goal. PSG could last throughout the first half before taking the lead when the second half went five minutes through Mbappe.
City then responded in the 63rd minute through Raheem Sterling before confirming the three points through Gabriel Jesus in the 76th minute. City won and were entitled to finish as group winners with 12 points, four points ahead of PSG who were runners-up.
Failure to win the group is certainly detrimental to PSG because it has the potential to meet strong teams in the round of 16, such as Liverpool or Bayern Munich. So it’s only natural that the spotlight is on Pochettino as a coach.
Pochettino is said to have split his focus after rumors of Manchester United approaching him to replace Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Pochettino is reportedly interested in filling the position and Zinedine Zidane will be signed by PSG.
The rumors were strongly denied by Pochettino who insisted his team was in the process of getting better this season. So the defeat to City is considered a lesson before PSG can become a complete big team.
“The players understand the situation very well. It’s normal that there are rumors in football, sometimes positive, sometimes negative. Now is not the time to talk about that,” he said. Mauricio Pochettino as quoted The Team.
“We have to be better in all aspects, all lines. We are better. I am happy with the existing process. Everything is better than a month ago. The team will slowly get better,” he continued.
(mrp/bay)
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